CAIRO
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Saudi Crown Prince Muqrin bin Abdulaziz arrived on Friday to Egypt's Sharm al-Sheikh resort town to attend an investment summit aimed at reviving Egypt's economy.
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir also arrived at the town, where he was received by his Egyptian counterpart Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, according to live footage broadcast by Egyptian state television.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn as well as Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud also landed in Sharm al-Sheikh on Friday to take part in the three-day summit.
A five-member European Union delegation has also arrived to attend the event.
Al-Sisi, who will be giving a speech during the opening session of the summit, is scheduled to hold talks on bilateral relations and regional developments with the delegations' heads during the summit.
Eighty countries from across the world along with 23 regional and international organizations have confirmed their participation in Egypt's economic summit, according to Egypt's Foreign Ministry.
The Egyptian government plans to tout 50 projects with investments totaling $35 billion during the three-day summit, ministry spokesman Badr Abdel-Ati had told the press.
Among the projects is the Suez Canal Corridor Development mega project which is expected to account for 30 to 35 percent of Egypt's economy, he added.
Egypt is counting on the economic summit to restore investor confidence and hopes to attract $8 billion in FDI before the end of the current fiscal year, which ends on June 30.
The country hopes to lure an additional $10 billion in FDI by the 2015/2016 fiscal year to revive its economy, which has suffered major setbacks since the Jan. 25, 2011 revolution that led to the ouster of longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak.
